LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

to come to such a standard as they lay down for women, they would consider the measure meted out to them a very hard one. Still, if it is a just and fair way of dealing with woman's suffrage and other questions of importance, it is an equally just and fair way to deal with men concerning their right to exercise the franchise.

      But, though deprived of the civil and ecclesiastical privileges accorded to their sons and brothers, women are yet held equally accountable with them for any infraction of these same civil and ecclesiastical laws. Not supposed to have sufficient mental capacity to understand what a law really means, she is yet, if she violates that law, punished for such violation. And, in the face of all this, it is sneeringly asked, "What can reasonable women want more than they already have?" The answer is simple: Equal rights and privileges with men.

      And it is to be hoped, for the honor of Christianity and civilization, that these will soon be accorded.

      Very much has been accomplished in several of the States of the Republic, in regard to giving women a proper position in civil and educational matters, but much still remains to be done; and just now it would seem doubtful which country will first accord the suffrage to them—England or the United States. Eminent statesmen in both of these countries are moving in the matter.

CHAPTER II.

       Table of Contents

      Woman in Antiquity.

      In the preceding chapter it is mentioned that the intention is to present to the reader, in as condensed a form as possible, some of the indignities put upon women, both in the past and the present, so that the reader may be able to form a candid judgment on the subject of woman's rights and woman's wrongs. We will, therefore, first consider the condition of the women of antiquity, and of those in heathen and Mohammedan lands; and, afterward, her position in professedly civilized and Christian countries.

      After the dispersion of mankind at Babel, we behold, through the mists of the surrounding gloom, the various tribes into which the race had by that event become divided, subsisting at first by the spontaneous fruits of the earth, and by the chase. Then they became herdsmen, tillers of the soil, and traffickers, varying these occupations by predatory warfare. They are all astir, passing to and fro through the wide extent of the regions as yet inhabited. History, so far as it deals with the earlier portion of this period, necessarily derives its material from traditionary legends, more or less credible, as the case may be. These recount the marvelous exploits—not unfrequently manifestly fabulous—of their rude heroes; their deeds of might, their noble enterprises, their indomitable courage, their persistent activity, and often their deeds of most revolting cruelty.

      Of the women of this period we obtain but slight glimpses, but sufficient to show that, in their domestic arrangements, the ancients early acted upon the principle, that "might makes right." Muscle appears to have been at a premium during these eras.

      Later, the nations are found still engaged in war, as if each esteemed the slaughtering of its neighbors the grandest and noblest of human achievements; but their equipments indicate that, meanwhile, manufactures have been making some advancement. Warriors present a more formidable appearance than did those of former ages. They are clad in armor, and guard themselves with breastplates and with shields. Their glittering swords and spears, their battle-axes and their bows, are grasped in hands only too eager to use them; and the combatants press proudly on toward the scene of conflict; while others, equally intrepid, but less military in their tastes, still employ themselves in the chase; and the more indolent pursue pleasures of a less exciting character.

      But where, meanwhile, are the counterparts of these—the wives, sisters, and daughters of these grim warriors and sturdy huntsmen, or of these dreaming idlers? In existence they certainly are; but they exist only to drudge and suffer. While their masters are employing or non-employing themselves, according to the bent of their inclination, they are cultivating the fields or watering and herding the flocks, bearing heavy burdens, carrying the luggage of their husbands to facilitate progress on the war-path; or at home rearing up children, who rarely rise up to call them blessed; or they are waiting, in submissive obedience, at the feet of their reclining lords, to be petted and caressed or cursed and kicked, as passion or caprice may dictate—subjected alike to neglect, contempt, and abuse. Exceptions to this general rule doubtless occurred occasionally; for irresponsible power does not of necessity convert every man into an unfeeling tyrant, just as under other systems of slavery, some were fortunate enough to fall into the hands of kind, considerate owners, whose hearts they inspired with love and tenderness; but neither bound wife nor bond slave was treated with kindness, respect, or common justice, because their inherent right to be so treated was recognized. It mattered little to the women of this period whether they were held as wives or concubines; their actual condition was that of slavery.

In none of the countries of antiquity had women more liberty than in Egypt; and yet what was her real condition there? Alexander remarked, it is true, that though "the women promised obedience, men often yielded it;" and, in many instances, it is equally true that the laws respecting women were immeasurably in advance of those of neighboring nations; as, for instance: Each wife had entire control of her own house. Among the princes nearest the throne, women might take their places, and even reign as sovereigns (a regency was frequently committed to their care); or they might rule as joint sovereigns with another party; and as Isis took rank above Osiris, so in such a case the woman might take rank above the man.^[A]

      But notwithstanding this advance beyond other nations, they were still spoken of, and in many instances not only treated as inferiors, but held in hopeless bondage.

      Among the Greeks, the wife was at times permitted to take part in public assemblies, but never as the equal of her husband. She neither went with him to dinner, when he dined out, nor sat at table with those whom he invited to his house. Aristotle held that "the relation of men to women is that of governor to a subject." Plato says: "A woman's virtue may be summed up in a few words: for she has only to manage the house well, keeping what there is in it, and obeying her husband." Again, in further proof of the low estimation in which he held women, he says: "Of the men that were born, such as are timid and have passed through life unjustly are, we suppose, changed into women in their second generation." Plutarch tells us that women "were compelled to go barefoot, in order to induce them to keep at home."

      The Spartan women were better off than their neighbors; and, in consequence, we get glimpses of a higher type of womanhood. The Spartan mother has furnished a theme for the pen of every ancient Greek historian. Under the Lycurgean system, women were considered "as a part of the State," and not simply household articles belonging to their husbands—chattels to be disposed of according to the supreme pleasure of their masters. Free women were trained for the service of the State with scarcely less severity than men. Lycurgus remarks: "Female slaves are good enough to sit at home, weaving and spinning; but who can expect a splendid offspring—the appropriate mission and duty of free Spartan women toward their country—from mothers brought up in such occupations?" But though, like the Egyptian women, and indeed in advance of them, the Spartan women were treated with, for the times, a marked degree of attention and respect, still, even in Sparta, there were laws in force by which women suffered grievous injustice. With all the apparent freedom accorded to them, fathers claimed and exercised the right of disposing of their daughters in marriage to suit their own views or interests. Though free-born, a girl had no choice, if her father willed it so, in the selection of her husband; and husbands might, if they wished, dispose of their wives by will, at death, as they would of any other piece of property. Though in a measure free, because she was a woman, she was still a slave.

      Among the other infringements of the rights of women, and one of the most barbarous, common to the heathen, both ancient and modern, and to the Mohammedans, is early betrothal. In fact, the system of betrothal prevailed to a very great extent among the very earliest nations of which history furnishes any account, the laws affecting it being only slightly modified to suit the circumstances of the various tribes by which it was adopted. The main feature was still

Скачать книгу